Wow, Giants nation. I literally can not believe I am writing this article right now.
After about 24 hours of going through all of the stages of grief, I have finally accepted one thing. This Giants team SUCKS.
If you had told me before the season that after week 4, the Giants would be 1-3, I probably would have believed you. I would have been pretty surprised, disappointed, and probably kind of sick to my stomach, but I would have believed you.
What I would not have believed is that they would be 1-3 with a point differential of -76 (yes, NEGATIVE SEVENTY-SIX), with a whopping ZERO TOUCHDOWNS in the first half of any game this season. How is that even possible? This was supposed to be a revamped offense, defined by speed and versatility. This was supposed to be a fun season that builds upon what was an amazing 2022 season, and shows that the Giants are gearing up to compete with the Eagles, Niners, Cowboys, and other NFL powerhouses in the near future.
What was not supposed to happen, was literally everything that has happened so far. Here are the 3 things about this team that have pissed me off the most so far:
1) Bobby Johnson's existence
How in the WORLD does this guy still have a job? Aside from Andrew Thomas (who is hurt), this entire offensive line has somehow taken a step back, which is hard to even fathom considering they sucked last year. However, how long can you even blame the players at this point? It's blatantly obvious that at least a large portion of this has to deal with the offensive line coach. Evan Neal somehow looks worse than Erick Flowers did, which seems impossible considering the work he did this summer. At least Flowers was super lazy, Evan Neal seems to be a hard worker and is still this bad.
Listen, I'm not saying I am an offensive line guru. I actually don't know anything about the technique behind it. But there is absolutely no shot that this line could get any worse with a new line coach. Last night, they allowed 11 sacks. I do not think that Daniel Jones had a clean pocket once the entire night, and that is not a joke. Daboll needs to show that he means business, can his buddy Bobby Johnson, and fix this goddamn line before Daniel Jones gets killed.
2) Thomas McGaughey's existence
Again, I have absolutely no idea how this dude is employed. The Giants consistently have some of the most vomit-inducing special teams units in the entire league, and yet he has somehow survived through 3 different head coaches. What is he even teaching these guys? Constant penalties, miscues, and stupid mistakes have plagued this team for years. Just look at this:
Obviously, a lot of these are extremely stupid decisions made by individual players. but when there are so many of them in one game from a single unit, it's hard not to start blaming coaching. When there are so many of them every game, every season from a single unit, it's impossible not to blame coaching. Whatever secret he knows about John Mara to keep his job, it must be a serious one.
3) Brian Daboll showing up Daniel Jones.
I am absolutely not going to defend Jones and say he was not a big reason for last nights ass-whooping, but what I will say is what the hell did Daboll want him to do? Jones made a few crucial mistakes, absolutely. However, any quarterback who gets sacked 11 times will play scared, and will make mistakes due to the absolutely absurd amount of pressure. However, this move by Daboll really rubbed me the wrong way.
If you want to call out Jones, be my guest. However, singling him out when you have coordinators being terrible at their jobs, lineman who looks more like turnstiles than football players, and defenders who look like they never learned how to tackle at an elementary level, maybe refrain from showing up only your quarterback on national television. Not only this, but then in his presser after the game, he goes on to say that they do not plan on making any staff changes. I'm glad Dabes is protecting his buddy!
I'm not saying the season is over, and I'm certainly not saying that Daboll and Schoen completely suck at their jobs. However, this has been nightmare fuel for me and every other Giants fan I know. I do believe this team can turn it around, but aside from one half (albeit a historic one), this has been the worst team in football. They look unmotivated, lack confidence, and just overall lack the cohesiveness that made them who they were last year. They need to switch something up before this really becomes a dumpster fire.
Joe Schoen, make it happen.
Let's go Giants.